The Last Ship previews- Page 8

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 10/14/14 at 8:08pm

Just curious. I looked at the Playbill shop and they are not selling merchandise for this show yet, want to get my wife a show shirt and we will not be able to get to NYC until 2015. Will they sell stuff when if officially opens?

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 10/15/14 at 9:25am

I don't know about Playbill selling it, but there's merch now and it's available at www.thelastshipgoods.com/

[[e-mail]]

Posted: 10/15/14 at 10:52am

I am seeing the show next week and have seen very mixed comments here. I have seen an early review from a British site that seemed to have seen the show:
http://www.officialtheatre.com/blog/broadway-reviews-2014/
(Its the third down - it seems they have done a few reviews on the same page.)

They really praised the score and Rachel Tucker's performance.
I suppose it depends whether you are into that industrial style of setting and the choral chanty kind of music?
The Last Ship Review

[RippedMan]

Posted: 10/15/14 at 11:03am

I'd say that's a fair assment. There are some great moments in the score and some clunkers (What Say You Meg?), and Tucker is indeed a powerhouse. I think her character should have been the central storyline. But I guess because it's Sting, you need a male lead?

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 10/15/14 at 11:21am

^ You just lost all credibility by calling "What Say You Meg" a clunker. Seriously? Chris Jones from the Tribune called it the most beautiful song in the show. I think it's the second best musical theater song, to the Night the Pugilist Learned How to Dance.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/reviews/chi-last-ship-sting-review-column.html#page=1

[JayG 2]

Posted: 10/15/14 at 6:30pm

Saw it this afternoon. Damn, but this show is terrific. This is what musical theater creators should be doing, not that schlock jukebox junk, Disney for morons, and B movies slopped on stage.

Great cast, wonderful score, sharp direction and choreography. I'm sorry, but if someone cannot appreciate this show, something is seriously wrong with him/her. Maybe you've just seen too much junk and it's rattling around in your head passing for good theater.

[starcatchers]

Posted: 10/15/14 at 11:32pm

Saw it this afternoon as well. The score is good, the performances are good...the show was just not my thing. If there's something wrong with me, so be it. The (too many) plot lines dragged on.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 10/16/14 at 12:07pm

Great cast, wonderful score, sharp direction and choreography. I'm sorry, but if someone cannot appreciate this show, something is seriously wrong with him/her. Maybe you've just seen too much junk and it's rattling around in your head passing for good theater.

There is nothing seriously wrong with anyone for having a different opinion than yours. Especially those who stated, in detail, why they disliked the production and feel that perhaps that last sentence of yours seems a bit ironic. If you enjoyed it and it made you happy, that's great. I disagree with your opinion, but it has nothing to do with what you consider "good theater".

[Hackasaurus_Rex]

Posted: 10/16/14 at 12:43pm

JayG2, glad you liked the show but know there is enough room for all kinds of theater for all kinds of people in search of all kinds of theatrical experiences. Your snobbery is boring.

[dreaming]

Posted: 10/16/14 at 1:03pm

Mister Matt-Thank you for voicing what I thought when I read that post. I see all kinds of theater (anyone who knows me in real life can attest to that) and I think my opinion is just as valid as JacG2 would lead us to believe his is.

[Pootie2]

Posted: 10/16/14 at 1:33pm

I'm genuinely shocked by the higher frequency of immature trollery on this board compared to the other forums on which I participate--including computer gaming and mobile technology.

There is nothing more subjective than evaluation of the arts, yet the unmitigated egocentricity exhibited by supposedly educated adults for a higher-class entertainment venue (e.g. "I just don't understand how anyone can like this because it's bad") is just mind-boggling.

At least the trolls on gaming forums can argue about numerical values and the Apple vs Microsoft nerds can rage about functionality, but to see such absolute judgments about the most subjective industry in existence (entertainment) is kind of hilarious.

[dreaming]

Posted: 10/16/14 at 2:04pm

I never said anyone else wasn't entitled to like it or wrong for liking it. However, by the same token, I am entitled to an opinion of my own based upon my own experience.

[Pootie2]

Posted: 10/16/14 at 2:18pm

^I wasn't talking about you, but that other guy up there... Still not used to having to copy-paste quotes on this forum. :)

[haterobics]

Posted: 10/16/14 at 4:16pm

I don't read preview threads before I see show (unless I'm on the fence whether to go), so I don't know if this has been mentioned many times in here, but...

What is the current running time? Just want to see when I can sync up with someone after my matinee Saturday.

Thanks!

[VotePeron]

Posted: 10/16/14 at 5:42pm

saw last Saturday evenings, show, and it ended at 10:35

Posted: 10/16/14 at 10:14pm

Bruce Springsteen went to see his pal Sting's new musical, "The Last Ship," at the Neil Simon Theatre Wednesday.

"It was great," Springsteen said of the show.
Bruce Springsteen attends "The Last Ship"

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 10/17/14 at 7:32am

"I don't know about Playbill selling it, but there's merch now and it's available at www.thelastshipgoods.com/

Thanks, I appreciate the help.

[haterobics]

Posted: 10/17/14 at 11:17am

Thanks, VotePeron!

[qafgenius122]

Posted: 10/19/14 at 6:23pm

Won the lotto (as did every person at yesterday's Saturday afternoon performance) and we sat front row! Which always has it's ups and downs, especially as far as my neck is concerned. Going knowing little to nothing about the show, minus a song or two that Sting has sung in the press, I went in in the dark. I have to say I really loved it. The score is top notch, and I adore ensemble numbers with harmonies like the ones I heard. The performances were all in great shape and good voice. Michael Esper really does shine here, though I've never seen him perform poorly. I also found Rachel Tucker and Sally Ann Triplett to be completely enamoring. Sitting so close you really can hear the voices, almost pick out exactly who is singing what note, it's so clear, which must be a testament to the sound designer, Brian Ronan who knows his stuff. The set is reminiscent of some recent seasons sets, nonetheless it works for this show, and creates some pretty cool moments too. I completely look forward to the cast album release, which will no doubt happen with Sting at the helm, and if this show makes it til Tony time, which I really hope, even up against stiff competition (Fun Home, Honeymoon in Vegas, American in Paris & Zhivago) don't count this one out. I highly recommend it. Side note: there was a bit if a mishap when the show first started, an actor throws a lit cigarette, it was meant to go into the water feature, however it landed on the lap of the person next to me, who floundered a bit, though was unharmed, I kept the butt, so that's a cool souvenir. The actor even apologized at the curtain call, miming apologies if course.

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 10/19/14 at 6:53pm

I kind of think Sting will pull a Lestat regarding the OBCR.

[goldenboy]

Posted: 10/19/14 at 7:16pm

Caught this a few nights ago.
The cast works very hard to keep the last ship afloat. Kudos to Fred Applegate, Michael Esper, Rachel Tucker and the entire cast; they commit 120% to the material... but the material sinks them as it is too damn long and uninvolving.

I found myself looking in the playbill to see how many songs were left. Than I looked around and there were two other people doing the same within two rows of me.

There are one or two possibly good numbers; especially Rachel Tucker's song and I paraphase not having a playbill in front of me"If I ever go with a sailor again." I almost care about Rachel's character and what an auspicious Broadway Debut! There are one or two other numbers that are pleasing (if not downright entertaining) but for the most part the score doesn't work as a whole. And there is too much of it. When it feels like there is too much music in a musical, we are in trouble.

I feel it's this kind of musical that makes me say please write the "last musical" and sail it out to sea if shows like this and If/Then are the future of Broadway.

It's hard to care about these townspeople and their ship. I kept thinking how did this get produced?

What do I know. I hated "Once" and that won the Tony.

[Melissa25]

Posted: 10/20/14 at 9:30am

^Tucker is indeed a powerhouse. I think her character should have been the central storyline.

I totally agree.


Rachel Tucker-"If You Ever See Me Talking to a Sailor"

[brucebossa]

Posted: 10/20/14 at 12:07pm

I’ve always liked STING - I have many many of his albums. I think he’s a great composer and lyricist and storyteller within his individual songs.

The production of his show THE LAST SHIP is first class. Great cast, inventive set, lighting and good sound. Some of his score stood out to me... I loved Meg’s first number AUGUST WINDS. I also did like WHAT SAY YOU MEG and THE NIGHT THE PUGILIST... However, I thought the 2 numbers which he put in from his previously written material ALL THIS TIME and WHEN WE DANCE, stood out like sore thumbs to me. (Maybe because I know them well) And if I heard THE LAST SHIP or WE GOT NOW’T ELSE one more time I was ready to scream.

The choreography: I loved Steven Hoggett’s work on AMERICAN IDIOT. I thought it was perfect with those characters. It also fit in the mood for ONCE the musical in the bar! But this time every time someone plunked down a stool with a heavy thud on a beat or stomped their feet. I just laughed. It was like “I’ve seen this done by you before and it’s getting irritating.” But that is just my view. Maybe it was just watching drunk shipbuilders stomping around that got to me. Maybe next time someone will stomp and I’ll like it again! Hmmmm...

Now, for what really irritated me. THE PLOT. OMG as they say. Spoilers ahead...

So the town is down on its luck. The shipyards are being closed and taken over by what I think is sort of a steel junk business... recycling? Junk yard? Some sort of business that went over my head in its description. The one guy who has left the ship building business (Aaron Lazar) and is trying to convince the men to work at the NEW business is treated like a pariah. He’s there to offer them JOBS and SALARIES instead of unemployment and they just huff and huff saying that their father was a shipbuilder and their grandfather was a shipbuilder and I’m a shipbuilder and how dare you offer me another job while I sit in this pub and drink and complain.

In comes Gideon (a nice performance by Michael Esper) who left 15 years ago and has now returned. The girl he left, Meg, now is with Aaron Lazar but refuses to accept Aaron’s proposal of marriage. She has a 15 year old son. GET IT? Gideon gets in a fight in the bar immediately but within 10 minutes he is welcomed back and told he is needed to build this LAST SHIP, an idea that the priest comes up with to save the men face and make them feel like MEN SHIPBUILDERS again. So he “borrows” the church building fund, they build the ship and in the end the men sail off SOMEWHERE saying they will return on the Autumn Tide or the Spring Tide or some Tide... and they leave the women and everyone seems happy. There’s a lot more stuff among Gideon, Meg and Arthur (Lazar) but that was not as irritating as those stubborn shipbuilders who just can’t see a future except in the pub or on a ship that has caused the church to lose it’s building fund.

CURTAIN. Of course what the hell are they going to live on and they will still be unemployed and unhappy when they get home whenever that is... but they will at least have built a ship and maybe they can sell it for scrap at the new junkyard.

Am I over thinking this plot?

People in the audience seemed to enjoy it and I think I may have been in the minority being irritated by these men in the pub complaining and wasting time and refusing other paying jobs. I know it’s an ALLEGORY, so Sting says, but I think I could sail a ship through the allegory plot holes.

Nice production though. Bon Voyage - I do wish it well.

PS: I forgot to look at the bar in the lobby to see if Buffalo Bill was there. That got me more upset because seeing BB would have been GREAT.

[haterobics]

Posted: 10/20/14 at 12:13pm

Yeah, the plot was pretty amazingly bad, although walking out, I heard a lot of people say they liked that they could easily follow the story?! I mean, sure, there isn't much to follow, but once you comprehend the story, so many question emerge, as you've pointed out.

I also liked that...

SPOILER

The day before the ship is supposed to sail out, Gideon's kid encourages him to go on the boat, and tells him they still need a captain, if he's interested?! I guess it fits the rest of the story for them to all be packing and ready to go, without any idea who's going to steer the boat, though?!

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 10/20/14 at 2:16pm

I feel it's this kind of musical that makes me say please write the "last musical" and sail it out to sea if shows like this and If/Then are the future of Broadway.

The future of Broadway will be exactly like its past, filled with hits and flops and shows we do and do not enjoy. The Last Ship and If/Then show no signs of benchmarking Broadway musicals in any way at all.